A Feb 29. email from the Office of the Provost sent to students stated the new policy change reinforced “the important connection between class attendance and academic achievement.”
While the editors of The Equinox are aware there is a definite connection between attendance and achievement, we also feel this statement does not tell the whole picture of how students may function.
According to the Keene State College attendance policy, “A student who misses in excess of three weeks of classes prior to the eleventh week of the semester (for any reason whatsoever, excused or unexcused) is expected to withdraw from the course.”
Although this would typically be the equivalent of six days of class missed, some professors shorten the withdrawal period to two days. We believe the attendance policy should be standardized so no student can mistake how many classes they are able to miss. It is not really fair to students who believe they are able to miss six classes only to be forcefully withdrawn from the class after missing two.
The policy also allows a professor to give away a seat held by a student if they do not show up to the first class without an excused absence. We feel the policy should be extended after the first week to make sure the student did not attend because they could not or out of apathy.
We also think the current attendance policy is too extreme. Excused absences and unexcused absences are treated the same in terms of being forcefully withdrawn from a class. It is almost as if there is no reason to make a distinction between the two.
According to the attendance policy, an excused absence includes, but is not limited to, “religious holidays, adverse weather conditions, illness, accidents, death in the family, occurrences deemed proper by the instructor, and approved activities.” Approved activities include, “field trips, scheduled intercollegiate athletic contests, professional and academic conferences, off-campus use of academic resources, authorized special projects, and required military or jury duty.”
We believe these are all perfectly good reasons to miss class and they should not count against a student to be forcefully withdrawn from a class. Just as professors are sometimes not able to make it to their classes, the same applies to students.
What matters most to us is that a student is doing well in a class, regardless of how many classes have been missed. That being said, we also suppose it is a good idea to have a policy mandating attendance.
Without having a policy to make sure students attend their classes, an incentive is made for students to not go to them. This is something that is detrimental to students, whether they would like to admit it or not. Forcing students to attend the classes they paid for, if they are able to, makes a lot of sense and should stay. We only say to standardize the process to make sure no one is confused and to make it less extreme.
